As one of the flat-faces rose to his feet, Lusa drew back into the shadows, shoving Toklo and Kallik away from the window. A moment later the flat-face opened the door and stepped out, pulling a pelt over his head, and ran across the rainswept ground to another den in a distant corner.

‘Let’s get on with it!’ Toklo hissed in her ear. ‘They’ll spot us if we hang around here.’

Lusa knew he was right. She set off again, still looking for the flat-face rubbish containers. To her surprise, she couldn’t see any. ‘What do they do with their rubbish?’ she muttered angrily. ‘Don’t they know there are hungry bears around here?’

As they came to the end of a row of flat-face dens, Toklo halted, sniffing at the air. ‘What’s that?’ he asked.

Lusa joined him and took a deep sniff. The most delicious smells tickled her nostrils; they seemed to be coming from a small den a little way from the end of the row. ‘We’ve got to have some of that!’ she exclaimed.

‘Be careful,’ Kallik warned her as she padded up to Lusa’s side. ‘There’s the smell of fire too. It could be dangerous.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

Before either of her friends could object, Lusa gave a swift glance around to check that no flat-faces had appeared, then trotted up to the door of the small den. She gave the door a push, but it wouldn’t open. Frustrated, she glared at it, then noticed a gleam of silver between the edge of the door and the frame. Something there was holding the door shut.

Squeezing her paw into the gap, Lusa gave the silver thing an experimental prod. There was a clicking sound; she almost lost her balance as the door swung inward. Smoke surged out of the doorway, while the delicious scents grew stronger still.

Lusa looked back to where her friends were waiting a few bearlengths away. ‘Keep watch for flat-faces!’ she called.

Then she slipped through the doorway into the small den. The air was full of smoke, stinging her eyes, but the smell guided her forward until she could make out long strips of meat hanging from wooden beams under the roof.

What’s the meat doing there? Lusa wondered. I’ll never understand flat-faces!

Rearing up on her hind legs, she managed to snag the end of one of the strips with an outstretched paw and pull it to the ground. Encouraged by her success, she tugged down a second piece. Grabbing them in her jaws, she raced out of the den and back to her friends.

‘Lusa, you’re brilliant!’ Kallik exclaimed.

Toklo still had an air of nagging anxiety, which the sight of the meat didn’t banish. ‘Better take it back to the rocks. The flat-faces might spot us if we stay here.’ He spun round to lead the way without waiting for a response.